WHERE ARE THEY NOW? / Dave and Greg Butler / The Butlers served Cal, Stanford / Greg coaches; brother Dave is financial adviser

Published 4:00 am, Sunday, March 16, 2003

They live on opposite coasts, work in completely different fields and went to rival universities. Heck, one has brown hair and the other blond.

Then again, the Butler brothers, Dave and Greg, have plenty in common. Dave played basketball at Cal and Greg at Stanford in the mid-1980s. Each has a former teammate on his school's coaching staff, the Bears' Jon Wheeler and the Cardinal's Eric Reveno. Dave and Greg both played professionally overseas. Each brother is married and has one young child.

And, there's seemingly no sibling rivalry between the two.

"Greg and I are the best of friends," Dave said.

"We've always been really supportive; we don't fight at all," was how Greg put it.

The brothers agree Greg has had more passion for basketball -- "He'd like to play every day until he's at least 55," Dave said. Greg has stayed in and around the game since he left Stanford in 1988.

Greg, a 6-foot-11 forward/center, spent two seasons with the Knicks and one with the Clippers before beginning his basketball odyssey throughout the 1990s.

please process the best of these offerings to run with sunday's where are they now feature in sports. fyi, the story is about greg butler and his brother dave. they played basketball at rivals cal and stanford... -----Original Message----- From: Jennifer Huffman [mailto:ButlerHuffman@msn.com] Sent: Monday, March 10, 2003 5:50 AM To: lyant@sfchronicle.com Subject: Greg Butler (current photos) Larry, I apologize for the delay. I have included a couple of photos. In the first photo, I am showing my daughter (Eliza) some plays. The other photos are a bit more random. One photo shows me the first time that I got to hold my daughter. The other photo shows us on the plane coming back from China, where My wife (Jennifer) and I adopted Eliza. Thank you for your time. Greg Butler less

please process the best of these offerings to run with sunday's where are they now feature in sports. fyi, the story is about greg butler and his brother dave. they played basketball at rivals cal and ... more

WHERE ARE THEY NOW? / Dave and Greg Butler / The Butlers served Cal, Stanford / Greg coaches; brother Dave is financial adviser

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He played in several countries, including Germany, Israel, Hong Kong and China. He often got spots on NBA summer-league teams and went to various NBA teams' preseason camps. Greg estimates he was affiliated with 14 NBA organizations.

He has no complaints about his days as a basketball vagabond.

"I look at it as though I might not have made as much money (as a typical NBA player), but I've had a much more interesting life," Greg said.

He still has a basketball life, though it's a far cry from the NBA, Europe or Asia. Greg, who turned 37 on Tuesday, just finished his second season as the head coach of the University of Bridgeport (Conn.) women's team.

Greg lives in Manhattan with his wife, lawyer Jennifer Huffman, and their 2- year-old daughter, Eliza, whom they adopted from China. He eventually wants to coach at the highest level possible, but is thankful for the opportunity to lead a Division II program.

"I needed to start somewhere," said Greg, who got the position five days before the beginning of the 2001-02 season. "You'd be surprised to find how hard it is to get even this type of job."

Greg has had a hard time turning around the Purple Knights' program; Bridgeport went 2-25 this season, the same mark it had in 2001-02. Still, he believes his team made a lot of progress this season and he expects a significantly improved record next season.

Cal's record improved from 13-15 in Dave's medical redshirt season of 1984- 85 to 19-10 in his junior season of '85-86 after Lou Campanelli became the Bears' head coach.

"He gave us a vibe that we could do it," Dave said of Campanelli. "We were much more gritty."

Butler and Campanelli were part of a signature moment for Cal, the Bears' 75-67 win over UCLA on Jan. 25, 1986 that ended the Bruins' 52-game winning streak over Cal. Dave, 38, recalled how vocal the Harmon Gym fans were that afternoon.

"They talk about the sound a jet engine makes," Dave said, "that it 'pings' your ears. I distinctly remember my ears popping because the crowd was so loud. "

A 6-8 forward, Dave was a fifth-round draft pick of the Celtics in 1987. He opted to play a year in Istanbul, where he endured a serious calf injury that effectively ended his chances of making the NBA. After playing one more season in Japan, Dave turned his sights from the NBA to an MBA, returning to Cal to get his business degree.

After spending three years in New York working for Merrill Lynch, Dave joined Dimensional Fund Advisors. He is a regional director for DFA and lives in Manhattan Beach with his wife, Chrissy, and 6-month-old son, David. Beach volleyball has become the sport for the elder Dave to play, mainly, he said, because it gives him a great workout without putting the stress on his body that basketball did.

Stress and Greg don't go together often. "He's got a big personality, he loves life," Dave said. "When I was traveling with basketball, it seemed like almost wherever I'd go, I'd meet somebody who'd say, 'I have a great story about Greg Butler.' "

One story Cal fans wanted to know was why Greg didn't follow Dave from Rolling Hills High in Rancho Palos Verdes (Los Angeles County) to Berkeley. "Throughout high school, I was always known as Dave's little brother. That's the way it was on and off the court. You want to make your own friends."

Greg also wanted to play his own game, meaning a big man who shot outside jumpers. Tom Davis, who was Stanford's coach in Greg's first two seasons, promised Greg he wouldn't have to play with his back to the basket. Said Greg: "(Davis) meant what he said. It was a perfect fit."

"Greg always thought he was Jack Sikma," Dave said.

Greg scored 1,038 points in his four years at Stanford and the Cardinal went 61-58 with one NIT appearance. Dave had 1,291 points in his four-plus seasons at Cal and the Bears went 65-55 (excluding his redshirt season) with two trips to the NIT.

The Butlers say they usually don't give each other the Cal-Stanford needle, but even brotherly love goes only so far. Greg recently sent little David a Stanford sweatshirt -- "I couldn't resist," Greg said with a laugh.

When the elder Dave saw his son wearing the sweatshirt, he had his wife take it off the boy immediately.